My daughter will spend Father's Day with the man who gave her her curly hair. (Update post #30)

[Ms. Toad]

24. Nope. I just do what gets put in front of me.

I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can be public - when so many people can't. I'm a firm believer that the progress we've made so rapidly the past decade or so is because so many more people now have friends they know are LGBT individuals. I've been sure that would be the case for the nearly 35 years I've been out (my spouse lost one, perhaps 2, jobs - but I've never lost a job or even felt my employment threatened, including when I was a public school teacher in an inner city, predominantly black, high school, where the primary insult was f****t). I find that when people now me, it just doesn't matter. So doing what I have the privilege of being able to do, when others can't, is kind of hard-wired into my DNA (I come from a long line of civil rights/peace activists).

I also have the full support of my family, an employer at the time I was most public who was very supportive (at one point refused to buy health insurance from a company who would not cover my spouse), and a (relatively) new employer who hired me having already known me for nearly 2 decades (so they hired me knowing who I am).

(I do admit to being tired of things landing at my feet, though, and perhaps on this issue they are coming to an end).